Ellen Alers

What do you do?
I’m a Reference Archivist.Favorite spot in DC to recommend to visitorsNational Cathedral– gardens, tower climbs and gargoyles.Collection Favorites
Although I didn’t save it, nor was it a contemporary request, one collection holds a very clear and forthright letter from a newly-married woman from a small town in Ohio, dated April 1946. In it, she asks the Smithsonian for information concerning, “feminine hygiene, sex relationship, birth control and how and when conception of a child takes place.” The reply she received did not supply the requested information, because her request fell, “outside the scope of the work of this Institution.” Nevertheless, I’ve always thought how very brave and open she was to reach out for information and that SI was where she wrote. By the way, further research showed that she and her husband were married for over 50 years and had children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.